A Royal Wedding in Cildania Amidst Growing Ties With Newly-Emerging Majatran PowerPrincess Nefertari is the first person of royal blood to marry into the Cildanian ruling familySUMMARYQART QILDAR --
Wedding bells rang out today to mark the nuptials of
Her Imperial Highness Princess Nefertari of Hawu Mumenhes with
His Royal Highness Prince Alessandro of Cildania. The bride is a distant relative of both His Majesty The King and the Empress Esintsundu. The groom is the younger brother of
Aiden Laviéra, a former political activist chosen by the Cildanian government to found a new monarchy for the Northern Majatran nation.
Rumors of a gathering romance followed closely on the heels of a
quasi-official visit to Hawu Mumenhes by Prince Alessandro early in the reign of
King Nkosinathi. Though turned away by government officials under then-President Lemarcus Morrison, Prince Alessandro enjoyed a warmer welcome from
The Order of Nobles, a little-known chivalrous society that advocates hereditary nobility. Princess Nefertari is popular within such circles both on account of her professional reputation as a nobility historian and her blood ties to the Imperial Family. The Princess is a 3rd great-granddaughter of
Saksoure VI who founded the Esinsundu Empire. Introduced to one another at a private
Order of Nobles dinner, the pair bonded over hereditary esoterica, and the rest is history.
Although such distant blood ties don't count for much in Hawu Mumenhes (the Princess, born Nefertari Shabangu-Saksoure, was hardly regarded as a
true princess within the country since the only title she inherited,
Princess du Sang de Rildanor, is shared by several thousand descendants of a Rildanorienne immigrant prince named Patrice Josephus de l'Hôpital who died 700 years ago), they're the coin of the realm in a young monarchy like Cildania, whose royals and nobles boast no blood, but only ballots.
Prince Alessandro found a far more favorable reception from
President Wilburn Battersby's Administration than that of former President Morrison. 'The
Triosi government has been pushing for formal relations with Aqqak for some time,' said veteran pundit
Qiniso Sibanyoni, currently a Fellow at the
University of Soleb. 'For the Cildanians, linking up with a global power and ancient monarchy like the
Esinsundu Empire is a sign of legitimacy in world affairs, which was important for them in the early stages of transition to a
Federal Monarchy form of government. When they initially sent Alessandro to make diplomatic overtures, the answer from the Morrison Administration was, 'diplomatic relations, fine, but a royal marriage, out of the question.' They viewed it as degrading the prestige of the monarchy to have a member of the Imperial Family marry someone so far beneath their rank,' Sibanyoni told
The Scribe.
But back-channel talks seemed to ramp up during the heat of the
Jelbanian War. 'Hawu Mumenhes is well placed in Majatra due to the presence of Cobura and
Imperial Armed Forces military bases there,' observed Sibanyoni. 'But at some point during the fighting between Deltaria and Vanuku, the decision in consultation with some allies was that a strategic advantage could be constructed by expanding Imperial footprints throughout greater Majatra for increased soft power benefits if only marginally greater force projection. So the Battersby Administration has taken that fully onboard and early on identified the new Cildanian government as a dependable partner for the effort.'
Though the embers of the Jelbania conflict have begun to subside, President Battersby is thought by many analysts to remain hungry for a show of heft in the southern hemisphere. As a sign of the Hawu government's about face on Cildanian relations, the Administration prevailed on former President Morrison, now a top counselor to the Imperial Family, to support Alessandro's request for permission to wed then-Ms. Shabangu-Saksoure. And turn about they did. Not only did His Majesty The King issue scrolls granting the royal assent, but additional scrolls elevated Nefertari to the title of
Princess Esintsundu, a rank usually reserved only for children of the Emperor and Empress. Since the engagement announcement, the one-time history professor has been known as
Her Imperial Highness Princess Nefertari, Princess Esintsundu, Princess du Sang de Rildanor (though the
Royal Scrolls pointedly stipulated that only the Rildanorienne title would be inherited by any children born to the couple, the
Esintsundu title being a rare and personal gift of His Majesty granted only for the duration of the Princess's natural life).
And accompanying the Princess Esintsundu on her wedding day? '
A throng of ships amongst an escort of war birds.' That's right: just like the heady language of the Preamble to the
Hawu Mumenhes Constitution, the '
Falcon Living Forever' will be nesting permanently at a Hawu military base stationed in Barbaro, Cildania. Imperial footprint accomplished (though the Cildanian government also received basing rights in Hawu Mumenhes as part of the deal).
Emerging from the cathedral after swearing vows of love and devotion before the klieg lights of television cameras and the hopeful glare of the Cildanian people, the newly-married royals traveled by open carriage on the long parade route from the federal capital to the Ducal Palace in the Duchy of Barbaro. There, the Prince and Princess will reign as
Duke and Duchess of Barbaro and pass on the titles to their heirs following
King Aiden's creation of a hereditary nobility with Prince Alessandro as the senior duke.
And what's in store for the future of the Duke and Duchess? First: children, since the Laviéra brood are no doubt greatly anticipating the first
babe of the blood royal ever born into their newly-minted Dynasty. Further afield, both
Prime Minister Dom Triosi and King Aiden are said to have ambitious plans in the political arena for the Duke of Barbaro. During the last elections, Triosi's party nominated Prince Alessandro for
Hand of the King, a kind of viceroy in place of the largely ceremonial monarch. Was the Duke consulted on the matter? 'No, they never asked me,' Prince Alessandro said with a bemused chuckle in a recent interview. 'But such is our duty as the royal family. We do whatever must be done for the sake of the people.'
-Yannick Pirera, March 4426
for Cildanian Broadcasting Corporation in partnership with The Daily Scribe